Hello all! I've bought a Saab (9-5 3.0 TiD)!

[slippery]

Fed up with suffering big depreciation, I bought a 2002 51 plate 9-5 3.0 TiD Linear on 5/7/07. Mileage was 59,100, purchase price £4500. Just had full service carried out by my local garage a week ago at 65,850 miles at a cost of £265. No problems flagged up. Now on 67,800 miles after a busy week! So after 9,000 miles in two months.....
I like:
Comfortable seats and driving position.
No wind noise and very little road noise.
Very sure footed on the 'A' roads and motorways.
650 miles between £70 fill ups.
Muted growl of the V6 and strong power delivery.
Lots of complimentary remarks from people, despite the low price tag.
Big boot and tons of cabin space.

I don't like:
Annoying rattle from dash (Think this may be standard!).
Wish I had cruise control!
Horrible tinny hi-fi, totally out of place in a car in this sector.
Gearchange is a bit 'agricultural' but I can live with it!
Brakes fade fairly quickly when driven 'enthusiastically'.
Handling feels slightly nervous on fast sweeping bends when wet.

All in all, this seems like a cracking car for the money. I bought it before reading the posts re the supposed problems this engine has, so as I'm going to be racking up at least a thousand miles a week and intend to run it as my daily driver until it becomes unreliable or tatty, I should prove a good case study for anyone considering a similar model. I'll keep a record of what (if anything!) goes wrong and what servicing costs I encounter and will update this thread accordingly. If anyone's interested of course?!!!

[moffspeed]

9-5's have a habit of going through rear shocks at a good old rate. Your worry about nervous handling may well be down to this if you are still on the originals. My 50K 9-5 was transformed by a set of uprated shocks and springs, the upgraded Abbott ECU and turbo added a little to the equation as well...

[i want an aero]

you can fit cruise control as it'a retro fit option, you can change the pads for redstuff or similar performance pad. try parts for saabs (online)for options and parts

[slippery]

moffspeed said:

9-5's have a habit of going through rear shocks at a good old rate. Your worry about nervous handling may well be down to this if you are still on the originals. My 50K 9-5 was transformed by a set of uprated shocks and springs, the upgraded Abbott ECU and turbo added a little to the equation as well...

You could be right, it certainly seems to be bottoming the suspension out too easily on bumpy roads. I'll look into uprating the shocks and springs, but I won't be tampering with the mechanics, this was bought to be a cheap workhouse to leave me funds for another 'toy'! Which shocks and spring did you use? Can you remember roughly what it cost to get them changed? Thanks.

[slippery]

i want an aero said:

you can fit cruise control as it'a retro fit option, you can change the pads for redstuff or similar performance pad. try parts for saabs (online)for options and parts

Thanks, I'll have a look.

[moffspeed]

The excellent "partsforsaabs.com" will provide you with a full set of adjustable Konis with matching sports springs (a definite must)and uprated bump stops for £450. You will be amazed by the transformation. My 9-5 had seriously spooky handling with a great deal of rear-end steer on the original worn shocks, once converted it handled beautifully.

I think I paid approx £150 for fitting, it's a tricky old job if you go it alone...

[aeropilot]

Koni's arn't the best option for a 9-5......Eibach or Bilstein give a better ride quality, especially with progressive springs.
But best check whether aftermarket suspensions can be fitted to the 3.0Tid as the engine was a lot heavier and the strut codes for a 3.0TiD are not the same as a 4 cyl 9-5.

Yes rattly dash is often 'standard'.

If you have a Linear you will have the base poverty spec AS1 sound system most likely, which is crap I'm afraid.

Brake fade when pushed is standard as well I'm afraid.

Edited by aeropilot on Tuesday 4th September 22:48

[Prof Beard]

Recommend Red Stuff pads for curing fade problems. (See my recent post on this)

[slippery]

Cheers all!

[NJH]

aeropilot said:

Yes rattly dash is often 'standard'.

Edited by aeropilot on Tuesday 4th September 22:48

In mine I only get funny noises from the CD player on bumpy roads i.e. only if a CD is in the tray, and sometimes the ventilation system makes some odd noises that tend to get louder and then dissapear.

[slippery]

This rattling is almost like a buzzing which goes away when I press the facia hard with my thumbs. They start to ache after a couple of hours though!

[DavidY]

NJH said said:

and sometimes the ventilation system makes some odd noises that tend to get louder and then dissapear.

Mine does this when the aircon goes onto recirculation mode, pushing the button to stop recirculation stops it.

Re: rear shocks, my 2.3LPT Estate is still on it's original shocks/springs at 163k miles, the handling is no different that it was at 100k

davidy

[aeropilot]

slippery said:

This rattling is almost like a buzzing which goes away when I press the facia hard with my thumbs. They start to ache after a couple of hours though!

Mine dis this a lot, and eventually I found if I pressed down hard with a finger on the edge of the dash top, just above the right hand side air vent it would stop. I managed to get my dealer to diassemble the dash under warrenty and they put some new or extra dash padding in.
However, within a year and with the car now out of warrenty the noise has started to reappear on occasions

[slippery]

Just to update, just had an interim service done by local garage on 12/11/07 for £152.07. This included reading and clearing a fault code as the engine management light came on a couple of days before it went in. Removing, cleaning and refitting the connections on what I think they said was the EGR valve seems to have sorted it, as it behaved itself on a 220 mile round trip after I picked it up last night. Nothing else to report except 2 bulbs (sorted) and 2 tyres (budgets ordered today at £47 inc VAT each). Mileage at this service was 78405. Fingers crossed for another 12000 event free miles!

Edited by slippery on Tuesday 13th November 10:02

[aeropilot]

slippery said:

and 2 tyres (budgets ordered today at £47 inc VAT each).

Are you running 16" or 17" wheels...??

Be very careful of budget tyres for these cars, the 3.0Tid has to run XL rated tyres, so if you fit budget non-XL tyres they will wear VERY quickly....

[slippery]

I'm on 16"s. I have always used budget tyres without any problems on my 'workhorses'. Now you've said that, it'll be interesting to see how quickly these ones wear. I think the michelins that are coming off managed just over 20k. I'll keep the posts going!

[John D9395]

I am on 17". Car came with 94W from new, which I am lead to believe is a heavy duty tyre. I generally get about 17k out of the front, and 40k out of the rear.

My 9-3 Aero rag top also has the same tyre / size, although it is a much lighter car so I don't quite understand where the heavy duty requirement starts and stops.

If you were to have an accident, the insurance company may reject your claim with the excuss 'car not fitted with recomended tyres'.

[JezF]

Not the most reliable engine, the 3.0 TID. Fingers crossed yours keeps going!

Edited by JezF on Friday 16th November 19:15

[John D9395]

Mine clicked over 100k this week, had it from new (March 04), car has never missed a beat, still drives like new, only problem has been a coolant leak from a heater valve.

[slippery]

[quote=JezF]Not the most reliable engine, the 3.0 TID. Fingers crossed yours keeps going!

Thanks for the vote of confidence JezF! Lol! That's why I started this thread, I thought my 50k plus miles a year experience might be useful to others considering this model.